Department for Transport

Railways: Tickets

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress he has made on the introduction of part-time season tickets on the railways.

Joseph Johnson: Train Operators have been making progress on the delivery of more flexible tickets. c2c have a Flexi-Season on a smart card. Arriva Trains Wales have introduced a Mobile Multi-Flex product for customers in Cardiff and the surrounding areas. In addition both the recently announced South Western and West Midlands franchises include the announcement of a new flexible season ticket which will benefit people working fewer than 5 days a week. We continue to challenge the rail industry to develop proposals for pricing and delivering more flexible ticketing options for those who work or commute part-time.

Taxis: Assistance Dogs

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the draft accessibility action plan for private hire vehicle passengers with assistance dogs.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The draft Accessibility Action Plan consultation ran from 24 August 2017 to 22 November 2017. The Government will publish a response in the spring, following careful analysis of the consultation responses received. The final Accessibility Action Plan will be published in the summer.

Taxis: Disability

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department's working group on taxi and private hire licensing plans includes in its remit disability equality training for drivers.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Task and Finish group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles was established by the then Minister of State for Transport, John Hayes, and has received submissions from a number of disability representation organisations. I look forward to receiving the group’s findings soon.

Motor Vehicles: Lighting

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress is being made on his Department's work leading a glare group as part of the UN expert group on vehicle lighting.

Jesse Norman: A preliminary recommendation from the technical group on glare, in which my officials participate, was presented to the UN Expert Group on Lighting in October 2017. Under scrutiny, concerns have been raised, including by the UK, that the recommendation may not adequately address the glare problem. Further evidence was requested which the Department expects to be presented when the subject is discussed again in April 2018.

Department of Transport: Electric Vehicles

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles in his Department's fleet are (a) electric vehicles and (b) ultra-low emission vehicles.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The table below lists the number of (a) electric and (b) ultra-low emission vehicles in the fleets operated by the Department for Transport and it’s Agencies.Department for Transport & AgenciesNumber of Pure Electric VehiclesNumber of Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles   GCS, Government Car Service DfTc61MCA, Maritime & Coastguard Agency00DVSA, Driver Vehicle & Standards Agency00VCA, Vehicle Certification Agency10DVLA, Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency27Total98

Speed Limits

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of introducing 20mph speed limits on reducing the number of road traffic-related deaths.

Jesse Norman: In June 2014, the Department commissioned a comprehensive three-year research project into the effects of 20mph limits, including effects on speed, collisions, casualties and modal shift. The research is also considering best practice, road users’ perceptions and effects on the quality of the environment. The research project is expected to be completed in Spring 2018, with the final report published later in the year.

Valuation Office Agency: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress is being made on the sale of the Valuation Office Agency testing facility in Shrewsbury.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) testing facility at Shrewsbury is not currently available for disposal. Although the site has been identified as being surplus to DVSA’s future requirements, DVSA is in the process of securing an alternative service delivery model for those services that are delivered from the site.

Railway Stations: Portsmouth

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to implement capital improvements to (a) Portsmouth Harbour Station and (b) other railway stations in Portsmouth.

Joseph Johnson: The South Western Franchise awarded to First MTR South Western Trains Limited (SWR) commenced operation in August of last year. As part of the £1.2bn of investment being made to Passenger Services through this contract, the Franchise Agreement contains several general obligations in terms of capital investment at stations across the network served SWR, including free-to use WiFi, refurbishment of waiting rooms, replacement of life-expired CCTV and improvements to Customer information Screen equipment, for example. However, the Franchise Agreement does not specify the capital investment in station improvements that must be made at a) Portsmouth Harbour station or b) other Railway stations in Portsmouth; it is for SWR to determine which improvements to make at each station within the scope of each relevant Franchise obligation having assessed which stations have the greatest need and where the investment will achieve the maximum impact for passengers.

Railways: Standards

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure value for money for rail commuters.

Joseph Johnson: In November 2017, the Department published the Strategic Vision for Rail, setting out the Government’s future intention for the industry. This strategy sets out how Government intends to drive efficiencies improving value for money for passengers. This includes technological advancements. Whilst fares revenue is crucial to funding day-to-day railway operations and the extensive upgrade program we are delivering, all of which benefit passengers, the Government recognises the serious concerns consumers have around the cost of rail fares and that is why we have frozen regulated fares in real terms for the past five years. The Government also recognises that rail costs need to be sustainable and value for money. That is why we are expecting industry to develop credible plans to tackle inflationary pressures and deliver the efficiencies needed so that any fare increases are sustainable.

Railways: Fares

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has discussed rail fares with his counterparts in (a) Italy, (b) Germany and (c) France.

Joseph Johnson: The Secretary of State has not discussed rail fares with his counterparts in Italy, Germany or France.

Pedicabs: Accidents

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many accidents involving pedicabs have been reported in each of the last three years; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce accidents involving those vehicles.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport does not separately identify pedicabs in road casualty data. However, following discussions with Transport for London and other stakeholders, we have concluded that there is a need to regulate pedicabs and are investigating a suitable legislative slot to do this.

Shipping: Conditions of Employment

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) passenger (b) roll-on roll-off passenger ships registered on the Paris MoU on Port State Control’s White List have been detained  by Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspectors for breaches of Standards in Title 2, Conditions of Employment in the Maritime Labour Convention, to date; and under what flag each such vessel was registered.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many general cargo ships registered on the Paris MoU on Port State Control’s White List have been detained by Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspectors for breaches of Standards in Title 2, Conditions of Employment in the Maritime Labour Convention, to date; and under what flag each such vessel was registered.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many bulk carriers registered on the Paris MoU on Port State Control’s White List have been detained by Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspectors for breaches of Standards in Title 2, Conditions of Employment in the Maritime Labour Convention, to date; and under what flag each such vessel was registered.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many offshore supply vessels registered on the Paris MoU on Port State Control’s White List have been detained by Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspectors for breaches of Standards in Title 2, Conditions of Employment in the Maritime Labour Convention, to date; and under what flag each such vessel was registered.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) chemical and (b) oil tankers registered on the Paris MoU on Port State Control’s White List have been detained by Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspectors for breaches of Standards in Title 2, Conditions of Employment in the Maritime Labour Convention, to date; and under what flag each such vessel was registered.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The number of ships detained by Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspectors for breaches of Standards in Title 2, Conditions of Employment in the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006, since August 2014, when the MLC came into force in the UK, for ships registered to countries on the Paris MoU White List is shown below, with their flag of registry:Type of vesselNumber DetainedFlag(s)Chemical tanker0-Oil tanker1Marshall IslandsOffshore supply vessel1Marshall IslandsBulk carrier3Marshall Islands (3)Passenger ship0-Roll-on roll-off passenger ship0-General cargo ship6Panama (5), Malta (1)

International Maritime Organisation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who the members of the Government’s official delegations were at all meetings of the International Maritime Organisation’s Marine Environment Protection Committee since May 2015.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Since May 2015 there have been four meetings of the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee. The United Kingdom was represented at all of these meetings by: Head of Delegation Miss Katy Ware, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to IMO, Head, International Maritime Coordination, Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) Advisers Mr. Bennett Ng, Environmental Policy Specialist, MCAMr. Jonathan Simpson, Head, Environmental Policy, MCAMr. Kevin Hunter, International Relations Manager (Technical), MCAMrs. Leanne Page, Policy Adviser, MCAMs. Lorraine Weller, Senior Policy Adviser, MCADr. Zabi Bazari, Managing Director, Energy and Emissions Solutions In addition, the following delegates represented the UK at these meetings: MEPC 68 – 11 to 15 May 2015Advisers Ms. Claire McAllister, Assistant Director, Maritime Safety and Environment Division, DfTMr. Godfrey Souter, Head, Climate Change and Environment, DfTMr. Ian Timpson, Senior Policy Adviser, Ship Emissions and Recycling, DfTMr. Tony Cunningham, Policy Adviser, Climate Change, DfTMr. Ben Rattenbury, Senior Policy Adviser, Department of Energy and Climate ChangeMs. Victoria Volossov, Policy Adviser, Department of Energy and Climate ChangeMr. David MacRae, Marine Surveyor, MCAMr. Bjorn Emtage, Assistant Policy Adviser, MCAMr. Ronald Allen, Policy Lead, Stability, MCAMr. Paul Grace, Technical Policy Lead, IOM Ship Registry, Department of Economic Development, Government of the Isle of ManMr. Motonobu Tsuchiya, Principal Specialist for IMO/IACS, External Affairs, Lloyd's Register EMEAMr. Dimitris Argyros, Environmental Specialist, Lloyd's Register EMEAMr. John Bradshaw, Principal Specialist, Engineering, Marine Technology andEngineering Systems, Lloyd's Register EMEAMr. Jonathan Morley, Technical Lead, MARPOL, Lloyd's Register EMEAMs. Katharine Palmer, Manager, Environment and Sustainability, Lloyd's Register EMEA MEPC 69 - 18 to 22 April 2016 Advisers Ms. Lola Fadina, Assistant Director, Maritime Safety and Environment Division,DfTMs. Laura Marquis, Head of Climate Change and Environment, DfTMr. Tony Cunningham, Policy Adviser, Climate Change, DfTMr. Edward Donaldson-Balan, Policy Adviser, International Aviation and Climate Change, DfTMs. Melanie Pennant, Senior Lawyer, DfTMr. Robert Cheeseman, Legal Officer, DfTMr. Neil Beauchamp, Policy Adviser, International Negotations, Climate Diplomacy Unit, Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeMr. Paul Grace, Technical Policy Lead, IOM Ship RegistryMr. Martyn Oates, Policy and Research Officer, IOM Ship RegistryMr. David Balston, Director, Safety and Environment, UK Chamber of ShippingMs. Anna Ziou, Policy Assistant, UK Chamber of ShippingMr. Motonobu Tsuchiya, Principal Specialist for IMO/IACS, External Affairs, Lloyd's Register EMEAMs. Yue Yao, Principal Specialist and Statutory Section Leader, Shanghai Technical Support Office, Lloyd's Register EMEAMs. Christiana Ntouni, Specialist, External Affairs, Lloyd's Register EMEADr. Wei Chen, Head of Research and Development, Hamworthy Water SystemsMr. Ian Timpson, Senior Policy Adviser, Ship Emissions and Recycling, DfTMr. David MacRae, Marine Surveyor, MCAMr. Andy Wibroe, Policy Lead-Marine Equipment Directive, MCAMEPC 70 – 24 to 28 October 2016 Advisers Ms. Claire McAllister, Assistant Director, Maritime Safety and Environment Division (MSE), DfTMs. Laura Marquis, Head, Climate Change and Environment, DfTMr. Ian Timpson, Senior Policy Adviser, Ship Emissions and Recycling, DfTMs. Stavroulla Economou, Policy Adviser, Maritime Climate Change, DfTMs. Kim Brown, Senior Environmental Inspector, Defence Safety and Environment Authority - Defence Maritime Regulator, Ministry of DefenceMs. Samantha Langford-Holt, Marine Environmental Protection Officer, Ministry of DefenceMs. Lindsey Hibberd, Senior Policy Manager, Global Carbon Markets, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial StrategyMs. Anna Croos, Engagement Adviser, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial StrategyMr. James Luetchford, Parliamentary and Ministerial Relations, Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsMrs. Rebecca Austin, Deputy Receiver of Wreck, MCAMr. David Balston, Director, Safety and Environment, UK Chamber of ShippingMs. Anna Ziou, Policy Assistant, UK Chamber of ShippingMs. Yue Yao, Principal Specialist in Charge, Statutory Section, Shanghai Technical Support Office, Lloyd’s Register AsiaDr. Nagaraja Reddy Devalapalli, Principal Specialist, Strategic Research, Lloyd’s Register EMEADr. Wei Chen, Head, Research and Development, Hamworthy Water Systems MEPC 71 – 3 to 7 July 2017 Advisers Ms. Claire McAllister, Assistant Director, Maritime Safety and Environment Division, DfTMs. Katie Carleton, Head, Climate Change and Environment, DfTMs. Stavroulla Economou, Policy Adviser, Maritime Climate Change, DfTMs. Hannah Gray, Legal Officer, DfTMr. Gwilym Stone, IMO and EU Lead, MCAMr. Stuart Hannam, Principal, EU and International Standards, MCAMr. Yue Yao, Principal Specialist in Charge, Statutory Section, Lloyd’s Register AsiaMs. Anna Ziou, Policy Director, UK Chamber of ShippingMr. Wu Shilel, Senior Emissions Specialist, Engineering Systems, Lloyd's Register EMEAMr. Ralph Bunch, Policy Adviser, Environment Strategy, Department for Transport (DfT)

Carillion

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what rail improvement contracts Carillion plc holds in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry.

Joseph Johnson: Holding answer received on 19 January 2018



Network Rail has advised the Department for Transport that it does not hold any contracts with Carillion for rail ‎improvements in the West Midlands or Coventry.

Motor Vehicles: Disability

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles manufacturers with a specific derogation period when the World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure is introduced.

Jesse Norman: No assessment of a specific derogation for wheelchair accessible vehicle manufacturers has been made. The Department plans to make a strictly limited derogation available to all manufacturers for the transition to the new WLTP emission test procedure and will shortly be issuing a consultation covering this issue. In addition, the Department’s officials have met with representatives of the Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Converters’ Association (WAVCA) to discuss derogations with the aim to ensure that the supply of these important vehicles continues.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Companies House: Databases

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on business and public confidence of the HM Revenue and Customs' guidance note which maintains that data concerning company registration from Companies House should not be relied upon because this data is obtained only on a trust basis.

Andrew Griffiths: No such assessment has been made. HM Revenue and Customs’ guidance note “Anti-Money Laundering Supervision: Trust or Company Service Providers” does not comment on the basis on which Companies House obtains company registration data. Companies House carries out checks on all information received, ensuring that it is valid, complete and in compliance with company law filing requirements. The obligation to ensure that the information is accurate lies with the company and its directors. The validation checks serve to help companies get it right.

Queen's University Belfast

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with Queen's University on funding for that institution for medical research.

Mr Sam Gyimah: There have not been any recent Ministerial discussions with Queen’s University Belfast regarding funding for medical research. The Government provides funding for medical research through the Medical Research Council (MRC). The table below sets out funding to Queen’s University Belfast over financial years 2012/13 to 2016/17:  12/1313/1414/1515/1616/17MRC2,230,0002,513,0002,715,0003,554,0003,782,264

Consumers

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2017 to Question 106304, whether his Department has set a date for the roundtable event with consumer groups to discuss negotiations on the UK leaving the EU and their implications for consumers in the UK.

Andrew Griffiths: The then Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility hosted the EU Exit Consumer Roundtable on 2 November 2017. A Minister from the Department for Exiting the European Union also attended. It was attended by representatives from Which?, MoneySavingExpert , Citizens Advice, Citizens Advice Scotland, the Consumer Council of Northern Ireland and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.

Electric Vehicles

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications were received for the On-street Residential Chargepoint scheme in the current funding round.

Claire Perry: To date, Portsmouth City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have had their applications approved and grant offer letters issued. A further three local authorities are currently having their applications assessed by the Energy Saving Trust, who administer the scheme on behalf of the Office for Low Emission Vehicles.

Companies: Registration

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2017 to Question 118852, on Money Laundering, how frequently and in relation to which comparative data are Companies House's systematic checks of the Companies Register conducted.

Andrew Griffiths: Companies House carries out systematic checks on all information received, ensuring that it is valid, complete and in compliance with company law filing requirements. Digital filings are subjected to a number of systematic checks. These help companies file the right information at the time of filing. It improves the quality of the information, and means that Companies House does not have to reject filings back to companies. Examiners employ similar checks for paper filings. Systematic checks and rules help ensure, among other things, that the specific document filed contains the correct company name and number, that the information filed is required by the legislation, that it is authenticated by the company.

Offshore Structures: Decommissioning

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance the Oil and Gas Authority provides to drilling companies on the decommissioning of semi-submersible drilling rigs.

Richard Harrington: Mobile drilling rigs are legally classified as ships and subject to shipping regulations. The waste arising from the decommissioning or dismantling of a drilling rig in the UK must be managed in accordance with the environmental permit requirements at the location where decommissioning takes place. Guidance is available from the relevant environmental agency. The Oil and Gas Authority does not provide guidance on the decommissioning of semi-submersible drilling rigs.

Offshore Structures: Decommissioning

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the carbon footprint of the North Sea decommissioning market in each year to 2025.

Richard Harrington: Offshore oil and gas operators must decommission installations and pipelines at the end of a field’s economic life. This is done in accordance with international obligations using a process that sees operators assess the carbon footprint of their decommissioning proposals where appropriate. The data is reviewed as part of the regulatory process but no annual assessment of the overall carbon footprint is calculated.

Companies: Registration

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how he categorises different submissions that have been made through the Companies House's register of companies Report It feature; and what submissions he has received by category through that feature since its launch.

Andrew Griffiths: 34,111 queries have been received in the period from introduction on 28 July 2017 to 18 Dec 2017. A proportion of these queries are sampled for categorisation purposes. Approximately 45% are correctly addressed to Companies House. Companies House categorises into the following major categories in order to relay to the correct team for further action: General enquiries, registered office address & directors appointment disputes, complaints (customer service and removal of personal details), alleged fraudulent activity/breaches of Companies Act, system issues and removal or amendment of documents from register.

Shipping: Climate Change

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,  what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the inclusion of the shipping industry in the UN Framework Agreement on climate change.

Claire Perry: The UK strongly supports action on the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from shipping, and is committed to fulfilling our obligations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. Our strategy for the shipping industry is led by the Department for Transport and the UN body with responsibility for this area is the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), which since 2003 has been working on measures to reduce GHGs from international shipping. In April 2018, Member States are due to agree the first comprehensive global strategy on the reduction of GHGs from ships at the IMO. The UK has been an active participant in these negotiations and is working to achieve a credible and ambitious outcome in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Ministerial Powers

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many ministerial directions were issued to his Department in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Andrew Griffiths: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was formed in July 2016. There have been no ministerial directions between July 2016 and 2017 in BEIS.

Energy: Prices

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to make available quantitative data on the effect of a price cap on (a) investment in the energy sector and (b) customers before the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill is introduced into Parliament.

Claire Perry: As set out in the Impact Assessment for the draft Bill, the costs and benefits will depend on the detailed methodology the independent regulator Ofgem adopts to set the level of a tariff cap. The Government does not wish to pre-judge Ofgem’s work in establishing the methodology by including quantified analysis of the costs and benefits in the Impact Assessment.

Companies House: Staff

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2018 to Question 121070, how many staff at Companies House monitor the accuracy of data on the beneficial ownership register for companies; and how many of those staff have been recruited in the past 12 months.

Andrew Griffiths: Companies House carries out systematic checks on all information received, ensuring that it is valid, complete and in compliance with company law filing requirements. This includes people with significant control (PSC) information provided on incorporation and throughout the life of a company. Companies House is committed to ensuring companies comply with the requirements of the PSC regime, our current compliance rate is 98%. There are 20 staff employed to deal with PSC compliance activities and 18 of these have been recruited in the last year. They will recruit further staff this year.

European Social Fund: Disability

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total number of disability projects is that have been funded by European Social Funding in each year since 2007.

Andrew Griffiths: The European Social Fund (ESF) Managing Authorities in the United Kingdom (the Department for Work and Pensions, the Devolved Administrations and HM Government of Gibraltar) do not hold disaggregated data on disability projects. However, the operational programmes designed by UK ESF Managing Authorities support disadvantaged groups, which includes disabled people.

Carillion: Insolvency

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support SMEs and their employees in Carillion's supply chain following that company's liquidation.

Andrew Griffiths: My rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and I are working to ensure information is provided to SMEs in the Carillion supply chain and employees of the business in a timely manner.On 18 January, the Secretary of State chaired the first meeting of a taskforce to advise on the impact on small businesses and employees affected by Carillion insolvency. It will act as a means for government to communicate to those affected by Carillion’s liquidation, including the wider supply chain, assess wider economic impacts and consider how to ensure that employees are provided with the right support to maximise rapid re-employment. The taskforce’s attendees included representatives from leading business bodies, the construction trade sector, unions, banks and government.I have met twice with leading business and construction trade bodies, representing Carillion’s sub-contractors, to understand the impact of Carillion’s insolvency on the supply chain, and agree actions that could be taken to mitigate this. It is our intention to continue to meet regularly with this group on an ongoing basis.The Secretary of State and I met major high street lenders on 17 January 2018 to seek assurances that they will not penalise small businesses affected by Carillion’s liquidation. Lenders are contacting customers and, where appropriate, are putting in place emergency measures, including overdraft extensions, payment holidays and fee waivers to ensure those facing short term issues can be helped to stay on track.Support is being provided by the Government to affected employees through the Job Centre Plus Rapid Response Service and local government initiatives. The Department is also providing a range of advice and support services for firms, delivered both nationally and locally available to SMEs affected by the insolvency of Carillion. These include a network of 38 Local Growth Hubs, run in conjunction with the Local Enterprise Partnership, to help businesses of all sizes and in all sectors to access support.Information is published online by the Insolvency Service for employees, creditors and suppliers affected and seeking advice. In addition to providing current information, they provide a dedicated hotline for enquiries and contact numbers to other relevant organisations such as the Pensions Advisory Service, and the website PwC have been established to provide information.These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/carillion-declares-insolvency-information-for-employees-creditors-and-suppliers.

Carillion: Insolvency

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate the Government has made of the number of companies affected by the liquidation of Carillion; and what steps the Government plans to take to minimise job losses at those companies.

Andrew Griffiths: At this stage in the liquidation process it is far too soon for the Liquidator to have gathered in full details of the company’s debts and creditors. The Liquidation process for such a complex and interconnected group of companies will take some time. The Official Receiver and his Special Managers have access to the records of the company and will be analysing these as quickly as possible.We have taken steps to minimise job losses by enacting robust contingency plans to mitigate the impact of Carillion’s insolvency on public services and the individuals employed by the company. PWC are acting as Special Manager to the Official Receiver to ensure that we can continue to provide public services until the liquidation is complete, this means people providing these services can continue to go to work and be confident that they will get paid.We met with and sought assurance from major high street lenders that they will not penalise small businesses affected by Carillion’s liquidation. Lenders are contacting customers and, where appropriate, are putting in place emergency measures, including overdraft extensions, payment holidays and fee waivers to ensure those facing short term issues can be helped to stay on track.Government undertook to fund for 48 hours the costs of Carillion continuing to deliver purely private contracts in order to give private sector contractors to determine whether they want to pay for continuation of services from Carillion in liquidation while they move their contracts to another firm.Between 15 and 16 January all of the company’s private sector service customers have been contacted by the Official Receiver to determine their ongoing needs. Over 90% of these customers have indicated that they want Carillion to continue providing services in the interim until new suppliers can be found and will provide funding which enables the Official Receiver to retain the employees working on those contracts.My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy chaired the first meeting on 18 January of a taskforce to advise on the impact on small businesses and employees affected by Carillion insolvency. It will act as a means for government to communicate to those affected by Carillion’s liquidation, assess wider economic impacts and consider how to ensure that employees are provided with the right support to maximise rapid re-employment.Information is published online by the Insolvency Service for employees, creditors and suppliers affected and seeking advice. This can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/carillion-declares-insolvency-information-for-employees-creditors-and-suppliers.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

South Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the current status is of peace talks between the different parties in South Sudan; and if he will make an estimate of the current level of civilian casualties as a result of the conflict.

Harriett Baldwin: Following the first round of the High Level Revitalisation Forum (RVF), on 21 December all parties to the conflict in South Sudan agreed a Cessation of Hostilities. However, violations have since taken place in many areas, causing civilian as well as combatant casualties. The second round of the RVF is scheduled to commence in February, and the British Government is continuing to encourage all parties to commit to the process with a genuine commitment to peace.The conflict is estimated to have led to more than 100,000 deaths since it began in December 2013, but the fragile security situation means that accurate estimates are difficult to produce, and the real number of civilian casualties is likely to be significantly higher. Over 4 million people, a third of the population, have fled their homes, including 2 million who have fled to neighbouring countries. In early 2018, 1.5 million people are expected to be on the brink of famine, more than twice as many as in January 2017.

Cabinet Office

Testicular Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were diagnosed with testicular cancer in each of the last five years; and what the age groups of those people are.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 172.41 KB)

Drugs: Death

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths were related to (a) benzodiazepines, (b) Z-drugs and (c) antidepressants in each of the last 12 months.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 235.73 KB)

Census: Cornwall

Steve Double: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he had made an assessment of the potential merits of adding a tick box for Cornish nationality in the next census; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 117.39 KB)

New Businesses

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many new businesses have been started in (a) Swindon and (b) England in each year since 2010.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 158.13 KB)

Census: Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will include Cornish as an ethnicity in the 2021 census.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 65.81 KB)

Life Expectancy

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information he holds on which (a) local authority areas and (b) parliamentary constituencies have shown a decline in life expectancy since 2010.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 71.9 KB)

Lung Cancer: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been diagnosed with lung cancer in Halton constituency in each year since 2012.

Derek Twigg: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many men in Halton constituency have been diagnosed with prostate cancer in each year since 2012.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 74.63 KB)

Department of Health and Social Care

Health Services and Social Services

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to integrate health and social care policy.

Caroline Dinenage: In March 2017, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Communities and Local Government, working with the Local Government Association, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and NHS England, published the Integration and Better Care Fund Policy Framework 2017-19. The document includes the policy framework for the implementation of the Better Care Fund (BCF), which is the first national, mandatory integration policy. The BCF has helped to join up health and care services so people can manage their own health and wellbeing, and live independently in their communities for as long as possible. In both 2015-16 and 2016-17, local areas voluntarily pooled more than the minimum required taking the total to £5.3 billion and £5.9 billion respectively. The Policy Framework also sets out our proposals for going beyond the BCF towards further integration, including that areas will be allowed to ‘graduate’ once they have demonstrated that they have moved beyond the requirements of BCF reporting and are exemplars of integration. To help local areas understand whether they are meeting our integration ambition, the Department is developing integration metrics for assessing progress, particularly at the interface where health and social care interact. The Department is working with the Social Care Institute for Excellence to better understand good practice in integrated care and how the Department could develop a more balanced set of measures of success in this area.

NHS: Migrant Workers

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many non-UK EU nationals were employed by the NHS in children’s services in each of the last three years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Staff employed in children’s services are not identified separately in the Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics.

GP at Hand

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2017 to Question 117917, when his Department plans to publish the first evaluation of the effect of the GP at Hand service.

Steve Brine: An independent evaluation of GP at Hand is being commissioned by Hammersmith and Fulham Clinical Commissioning Group and the scope and specification for this are currently in development.

Department of Health and Social Care: Electric Vehicles

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many vehicles in his Department's fleet are (a) electric vehicles and (b) ultra-low emission vehicles.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department does not have a fleet of vehicles.

Cancer: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the rate of early diagnosis of cancer.

Steve Brine: To raise awareness of cancer symptoms and encourage people with symptoms to go to their doctor without delay, we have run 13 national Be Clear on Cancer awareness campaigns since 2010/11. A national respiratory symptoms campaign ran from April to the end of August 2017, focusing on the symptoms of a persistent cough and inappropriate breathlessness. The campaign covered lung cancer along with other conditions such as heart disease and lung disease. Public Health England has developed a pilot on the abdominal symptoms which can be a sign of a number of cancers. This ran in the East and West Midlands in February and March 2017. Working in partnership with Be Clear on Cancer, Cancer Research UK has piloted a campaign in the North West on increasing uptake of bowel cancer screening in January and March 2017. Bowel scope screening has been rolled out to 98% of centres in England and over 300,000 55 year-olds have been screened so far. As recommended by the UK National Screening Committee and the independent Cancer Taskforce, we are modernising our world renowned cancer screening programmes by introducing Faecal Immunochemical Testing into the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme during 2018/19 and human papillomavirus as the primary test in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme by December 2019. NHS England’s Accelerate, Co-ordinate, Evaluate (ACE) programme is testing innovative ways of diagnosing cancer earlier, with ACE Wave 2 piloting multi-disciplinary diagnostic centres for patients with vague or non-specific symptoms. The pilots are taking place in London, Greater Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Oxfordshire and Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven (Yorkshire). The National Institute for Health Care and Excellence updated referral guidelines for suspected cancer published in June 2015 could save about 5,000 lives a year with general practitioners urged to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold for tests.

Postnatal Depression

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to improve post-natal mental health care provision.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This Government is committed to improving perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year, so that women are able to access the right care at the right time and close to home. The Department is investing £365 million from 2015/16 to 2020/21 in perinatal mental health services, and NHS England is leading a transformation programme to ensure that by 2020/21 at least 30,000 more women each year are able to access evidence-based specialist mental health care during the perinatal period. This includes access to psychological therapies and specialist community or inpatient care. A key element of the programme is to increase awareness and skills across the workforce, supporting better identification of perinatal mental illness, early intervention and consequently improved recovery rates. In addition, there are over 570 perinatal mental health visitor champions. Their role is to support health visitors with the identification and management of anxiety, mild to moderate depression and other perinatal mental disorders, and know when to refer on.

Epilepsy: Children and Young People

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage use of the Epilepsy Passport.

Steve Brine: NHS England commissioned the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) to develop the passport in partnership with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) with input from key epilepsy professionals, parents, children and young people. The aim of the passport is to help children and young people with epilepsy and their families communicate with healthcare and other professionals and to help healthcare professionals communicate with each other. On behalf of NHS England, HQIP has also commissioned the Epilepsy Audit, undertaken by the RCPCH, which will assess use of the passport as a quality measure. More information can be found at the following link: www.rcpch.ac.uk/improving-child-health/quality-improvement-and-clinical-audit/epilepsy12-national-audit/epilepsy12-n

Mental Health Services

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people discharged from mental health treatment in hospitals have had support from crisis resolution teams in each of the last seven years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is not collected.

Department of Health and Social Care: Ministerial Powers

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ministerial directions were issued to his Department in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, including the Governance Statements for 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 show that no ministerial directions were issued to the Department.

Mental Health Services: Mothers

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that new mothers' mental health problems are identified as early as possible.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This Government is committed to improving perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year, so that women are able to access the right care at the right time and close to home. The Department is investing £365 million from 2015/16 to 2020/21 in perinatal mental health services, and NHS England is leading a transformation programme to ensure that by 2020/21 at least 30,000 more women each year are able to access evidence-based specialist mental health care during the perinatal period. This includes access to psychological therapies and specialist community or inpatient care. A key element of the programme is to increase awareness and skills across the workforce, supporting better identification of perinatal mental illness, early intervention and consequently improved recovery rates. In addition, there are over 570 perinatal mental health visitor champions. Their role is to support health visitors with the identification and management of anxiety, mild to moderate depression and other perinatal mental disorders, and knowing when to refer on.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Education Policy Institute’s report Access and Waiting Times in Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services, what steps he plans to take to reduce the variation in waiting times for mental health treatment across the country.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The recent Green Paper, ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’, includes a proposal to trial a four week waiting time for access to specialist National Health Service children and young people’s mental health services. New Mental Health Support Teams, a further announcement in the green paper, will also enable children and young people to access earlier help for emerging problems. Both approaches will be tested using trailblazer areas, operational from 2019, to understand what works. Two waiting time standards applicable to children and young people’s mental health are already in place; the early intervention in psychosis standard is currently exceeding its target and the children’s eating disorder standard is on track to meet its target by 2020/21.

Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his tweet (18) on crisis care of 20 November 2017, what evidence he has to suggest that the roll-out of liaison psychiatry to A&E departments in England may have contributed to a 6 per cent fall in suicide rates.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There is evidence to support the role of liaison psychiatry services in emergency departments being well-placed to respond to people who present with mental health problems including self-harm and suicidal ideation. It is estimated that around 200,000 people present at emergency departments for self-harm each year and liaison psychiatry services can respond to their needs to ensure they are properly assessed and referred to specialist or community services where appropriate. NHS England has published guidance on implementing liaison psychiatry services which highlights evaluations of the benefits of implementing liaison psychiatry services for providers: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/achieving-better-access-to-247-urgent-and-emergency-mental-health-care-part-2-implementing-the-evidence-based-treatment-pathway-for-urgent-and-emergency-liaison-mental-health-services-for-2/ The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on the treatment and management of self-harm highlight that liaison psychiatry services should be part of the emergency and urgent care pathway and these services may respond to self-harm. It is reasonable to assert that improving the specialist treatment for people who present at emergency departments for self-harm, suicidal ideation or other mental health problem could contribute to a reduction in suicides, as the tweet suggested.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients: Children

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of health-based places of safety which accept people under the age of 16.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) conducts its own survey annually regarding locations of places of safety. 109 out of 163 health based places of safety accept people under the age of 16.Source: Map of health based places of safety, CQC. http://www.cqc.org.uk/help-advice/mental-health-capacity/map-health-based-places-safety

Mental Health Services: Police Custody

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's target to roll out liaison and diversion services to all police custody suites and courts by April 2017, whether that target has been achieved.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England's target to roll out liaison and diversion services to police custody suites and courts by April 2017 has been achieved. NHS England is also on target to achieve a complete roll out to all police custody suites and courts by 2021.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of people detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 were conveyed to hospital by (a) an ambulance and (b) a police car in each year from 2013-14 to date.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In 2016/17, the first year in which this information has been collected, a police vehicle was used to transport the person being detained to a place of safety in 10,846 (52%) of cases where the method of transport was known, and an ambulance was used in 9,142 (44%) cases. Source: Police powers and procedures, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2017, Home Office. http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/658099/police-powers-procedures-mar17-hosb2017.pdf

NHS: Finance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on implementing the recommendation of the Mental Health Taskforce Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, published in January 2016, on an Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation review NHS funding allocations formulas to ensure parity between physical and mental health in 2016-17.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) is planning to use the latest available datasets to understand differences in need met through services delivered, and to explore ways of estimating unmet needs for mental health services. ACRA’s ongoing work to understand better the distribution of need for mental health services is vital to developing the next set of recommendations on improvements to the weighted capitation formula.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to mental health services in England in each of the last seven years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The expenditure on National Health Service-provided mental health services is shown, by year, in the table below. YearMental Health Expenditure in nominal terms (£ billions)2013-149.62014-1510.082015-1610.812016-1711.6Source: NHS England These figures include clinical commissioning group spending and specialised commissioning spending on mental health services. Comparable figures for 2012-13 and earlier are not available.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on implementing the recommendation of the Mental Health Taskforce Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, published in January 2016, for CCGs to report publicly on how they are addressing unmet mental health need and mental health inequalities.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England remains committed to improving transparency in reporting on mental health. It has a dedicated programme aimed at improving the quality and availability of national mental health data and will continue to ensure that this information is in the public domain. The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health Dashboard and MyNHS tools monitor clinical commissioning groups’ performance against recommendations set out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, which includes progress towards this recommendation. Source:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/mental-health-five-year-forward-view-dashboard/ https://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/performance/search

Mental Health Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2016 to Question 113128 on Mental Health Services, if he will publish the date for the planned publication of the delayed mental health pathways.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England has not confirmed for the date for publication of the mental health pathways as a number of the pathways are still being reviewed. While much of the content has been finalised across the pathways, further review is ongoing to ensure alignment with the wider Five Year Forward View strategy, thereby ensuring that the pathways provide the most helpful guidance to both commissioners and providers.

Mental Health Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer 20 November 2017 to Question 113128 on Mental Health Services, how times he has met with NHS England officials to review the draft pathways since 20 November 2017.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular meetings with officials from NHS England and other arm’s length bodies on the implementation of Five Year Forward View for Mental Health (FYFVMH) commitments. These discussions are varied and focus on the range of commitments made within the FYFVMH, including the commitments around implementation of new mental health pathways of care.

Mental Health Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2017 to Question 113128 on Mental Health Services, what assessment he has made of the effect of the delay to the publication of the mental health pathways on the planning and resource allocation for those services in 2018-19.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The mental health pathways are intended to provide clear guidance to both commissioners and providers in relation to the commissioning and implementation of services to improve access and outcomes for people with mental health problems. No formal assessment has been made of the impact of delayed publication of the mental health pathways on planning and resource allocation. However clinical commissioning groups’ decisions about resource allocations for mental health are not guided solely by pathways but, also, by a number of other resources. Principally the ‘NHS England Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance’, which provides guidance on the delivery of key transformation objectives, thereby supporting commissioners and providers in meeting key Five Year Forward View for Mental Health recommendations.

Department for Education

Carillion

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many facilities management contracts Carillion plc holds with schools.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the value is of facilities management contracts which Carillion plc holds with schools.

Nick Gibb: Local authorities, academy trusts and colleges are responsible for their contracts. We have, however, worked with local authorities and academy trusts to make sure they have robust contingency plans in place and that these have been actioned, where required. Information available to the department indicates that the number of local authority and academy trust schools, covered by catering, facilities management or other service contracts with Carillion is relatively low. Our priority is to ensure schools can continue to operate as usual. Government is supporting the Official Receiver, so that services to schools and other public services can continue to be delivered. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will work with schools and providers to help minimise any disruption for pupils.

Academies: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of academies in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry have contracts with Carillion plc for catering services.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of local authority maintained schools receive school maintenance services from Carillion plc in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry.

Nick Gibb: Local authorities and academy trusts are responsible for their contracts. We have, however, worked with local authorities and academy trusts to make sure they have robust contingency plans in place and that these have been actioned, where required. Information available to the department indicates that the number of local authority and academy trust schools, covered by catering, facilities management or other service contracts with Carillion is relatively low. Our priority is to ensure schools can continue to operate as usual. Government is supporting the Official Receiver, so that services to schools and other public services can continue to be delivered. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will work with schools and providers to help minimise any disruption for pupils.

Carillion

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on contracts between (a) schools and (b) further education colleges in England and Carillion Group.

Nick Gibb: Local authorities, academy trusts and colleges are responsible for their contracts. We have, however, worked with local authorities and academy trusts to make sure they have robust contingency plans in place and that these have been actioned, where required. Information available to the department indicates that the number of local authority and academy trust schools, covered by catering, facilities management or other service contracts with Carillion is relatively low. Our priority is to ensure schools can continue to operate as usual. The government is supporting the Official Receiver, so that services to schools and other public services can continue to be delivered. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will work with schools and providers to help minimise any disruption for pupils.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Reorganisation

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2018 to Question 121612, what the cost to the public purse is of renaming of his Department.

Jake Berry: Holding answer received on 18 January 2018



As set out in response to 121612, any necessary changes will be done in a cost-efficient way with expenditure being kept to a minimum.

Carillion

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide a list of the local authorities contacted by his Department following the liquidation of Carillion plc; and on what dates those local authorities were so contacted.

Jake Berry: Holding answer received on 18 January 2018



Following the announcement of Carillion’s liquidation, the Local Government Association contacted all English local authorities with contracts with Carillion and has remained in regular contact with them since then.We have been working closely with the Local Government Association to support this on-going engagement with the sector and the management of the impacts of the liquidation of Carillion.

Carillion

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of Carillion's remaining outstanding liabilities to the local government sector.

Jake Berry: The Government has appointed an Official Receiver who has a duty to investigate generally the business, dealings, and affairs of the company.In this role as liquidator, the Official Receiver is independent from government.

Scotland Office

Carillion: Scotland

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what representations he has received on the effect of the Carrillion entering liquidation on the non-construction services it provides in Scotland.

David Mundell: My Department is monitoring the position with regard to Carillion’s non-construction service contracts in Scotland and is in close touch with other UK Government departments and the Scottish Government.

Scotland Office: Beverage Containers

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate has been made of the number of single use disposable cups that are (a) used each year and (b) sent for recycling by his Department.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not have any in-house canteen or coffee shop facilities at either its London or Edinburgh locations.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Electric Vehicles

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many vehicles in her Department's fleet are (a) electric vehicles and (b) ultra-low emission vehicles.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not currently have any a) electric vehicles and b) vehicles producing less 75 g/km CO2 (current definition of Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle) in its fleet.

Personal Independence Payment: Internet

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it possible for people to claim for Personal Independence Payments through an online platform in line with the Government’s digital by default agenda.

Sarah Newton: The Government’s response to recommendation 14 from the second independent review of the Personal Independence Payment assessment, published on 18 December 2017 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-pip-assessment-second-independent-review-government-response), sets out the Government’s position in relation to online applications to Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The response made clear that we are committed to test and learn activity following small-scale pilots on applying for PIP online and that we are exploring ways to make better use of data-sharing across all health and disability benefits so as to provide more personalised support and services.

Social Security Benefits: Mobile Phones

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress GovCoin, Barclays, RWE npower and University College London on behalf of the Department have made in developing technology that welfare claimants can easily adopt to handle their payments through a mobile app.

Kit Malthouse: A small Proof of Concept was undertaken with DISC Holdings (formerly Govcoin) which included a budgeting app that could be used on a mobile phone. There are no plans to roll out any such pilot at scale. If claimants chose to use an account with a mobile app, as long as it has a standard account number and sort code, then they may do so. It is not within the DWP’s remit to promote one company’s product over another. DWP has liaised with University College London regarding technological developments in this area. No formal projects were initiated as a result of this. The Department continues to work with industry to understand how emerging technologies can be used to support claimants.

Personal Independence Payment: Standards

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department holds data on customer satisfaction for the disability assessment service for personal independence payments; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: The latest official DWP survey shows that overall satisfaction for Personal Independent Payment stands at 76% The information is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/583754/dwp-claimant-service-and-experience-survey-2015-2016.pdf

Personal Independence Payment

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence claims were (a) rejected, (b) appealed and (c) went to tribunal in each of the last six months.

Sarah Newton: The number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) cleared claims that were disallowed can be found via Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk The relevant data can be found in Table 2 – PIP Clearances by Clearance Type. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. The number of Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) can be found in the DWP published statistics “Personal Independence Payment: April 2013 to October 2017”. The relevant data is in “Table 7A_Recons_Registrations” in Data tables. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-october-2017 The number of PIP appeals cleared at hearing is available quarterly and the last published data was released in December 2017. This data can be found in Table SSCS.3 of the quarterly bulletin published by the Ministry of Justice “Tribunals and gender recognition certificate statistics quarterly – July to September 2017”. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2017

Social Security Benefits: Forms

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that benefit assessment and claim forms are offered in accessible formats.

Sarah Newton: Where our customers advise us that they need assistance to access our services and information, we make reasonable adjustments to meet their individual needs. This means the Department communicates with customers in a variety of different formats such as Braille, audio, large print, through third party interpreters or by arranging for a member of staff to visit the customer in their home. Forms are available as a reasonable adjustment in electronic formats compatible with assistive software such as JAWS, Dragon, NVDA, Read & Write, and Zoomtext. The Department is continuously working to improve its written customer communications products, including letters, forms and leaflets, so they are clear and accessible to as many of our customers as possible. We follow accessible design principles, including the use of plain language.

Children: Maintenance

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of paying parents involved in pay arrangements though the child maintence service who are listed as self-employed or as company directors.

Kit Malthouse: The department does not hold data on the number of paying parents who are acting as company directors. The Child Maintenance Service is currently in the process of assuring employment data and therefore this will be available at a future date when it would be released in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of amount to be loaned to homeowners in the first year following the conversion of the Support for Mortgage Interest benefit to a loan.

Kit Malthouse: Based on the assumptions in the 2017 Impact Assessment available at:http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2017/117/pdfs/ukia_20170117_en.pdfthe Department estimates that £156m will be loaned to homeowners in 2018/19, which is the first year following conversion of the Support for Mortgage Interest benefit to a loan.

Personal Independence Payment

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy for all claimants to receive a copy of their personal independence payment assessment report.

Sarah Newton: The Government’s response to recommendation 4a from the second independent review of the Personal Independence Payment assessment, published on 18 December 2017 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-pip-assessment-second-independent-review-government-response), sets out the Government’s position in relation to providing assessment reports to claimants. The response made clear that claimants can request a copy of their report at any time following their assessment, that we would not provide the reports to all claimants automatically, but we will consider how we can improve our communications so that claimants know they can request a copy of their assessment report.

Children: Maintenance

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to tackle miscalculations of child maintenance liabilities by paying parents who are (a) self-employed or (b)company directors.

Kit Malthouse: The Child Maintenance Service’s definition of income includes almost all sources of gross income reported to HMRC by company directors or self-employed parents. The specially trained Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) are able to look into cases where there is concern about a parent’s income. The FIU has been expanded since it was set up in 2014; and between July and September 2017 it opened 1100 complex earner investigations. We recently launched a consultation on our new Child Maintenance Compliance and Arrears strategy which proposes further improvements to the treatment of the income of complex earners, such as high value assets owned by a parent being used to create a notional income.

Children: Maintenance

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,  for what reasons arrears payable for child maintenance that require the Child Maintenance Service to arrange payments via the employer only attract a one off fee rather than an additional percentage charge of the arrear.

Kit Malthouse: When the Child Maintenance Service arranges for maintenance payments to be taken directly from the parent’s earnings via the employer, this is done through a Deductions from Earnings Order. The Paying Parent is charged a one off £50 enforcement fee for the Deduction from Earnings Order, as well as on-going collection charges of 20% of the maintenance liability (including any arrears) for using the Collect and Pay service. Charges are designed to encourage compliance.

Social Security Benefits: Motor Neurone Disease

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people diagnosed with motor neurone disease and in receipt of benefits have been through the process to have their benefits reassessed in each of the last five years.

Sarah Newton: The table below shows the number of claimants with motor neurone disease who underwent Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reassessments up to 31st October 2017 – the latest date for which data is available. Data is published annually and the next update in December 2018 will include data to 31st October 2018. Table 1: Number of motor neurone disease claimants who underwent a DLA to PIP reassessment in each of the last 5 calendar years. YearDLA to PIP ReassessmentJan 13 - Dec 13-Jan 14 - Dec 14-Jan 15 - Dec 15-Jan 16 - Dec 16200Jan 17 - Oct 17200Source: PIP ADS. The figures are rounded to the nearest 100. ‘–‘denotes figures that are zero or less than 50. DLA to PIP Reassessment figures are based on the first outcome recorded for each case and include cases on which a decision was made between April 2013 and 31st October 2017. Figures include reassessments for individuals who were aged between 16 and 64 on 8th April 2013, and include both PIP Normal Rules and Special Rules for the Terminally Ill claims.Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.Figures are for Great Britain only. The table below shows the number of claimants with motor neurone disease who have had their Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Incapacity Benefit (IB) benefits reassessed. Table 2: Number of people who have at least one completed ESA repeat assessment or IB reassessment, whose primary medical condition is recorded as motor neurone disease, annually from July 2012 to June 2016, Great Britain. YearESA Repeat AssessmentIB ReassessmentJul-12 to Jun-13100100Jul-13 to Jun-14-100Jul-14 to Jun-15--Jul-15 to Jun-16100-Jul-16 to Jun-17100-Source: Application data is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by the Healthcare Provider. The figures are rounded to the nearest 100. ‘–‘denotes figures that are zero or less than 50. The information is provided for Work Capability Assessments completed up to June 2017; this is the latest data available at time of request. The outcome recorded is the final DWP Decision Maker’s decision or the recommendation made by the Healthcare Professional where the Decision Maker’s decision is not yet available.An individual may have made more than one ESA claim and had more than one assessment in the time period shown. These individuals will only be counted once in each of the figures provided.The primary medical condition recorded on the claim form does not itself confer entitlement to ESA. So, for example, a decision on entitlement for a customer claiming ESA on the basis of Motor Neurone Disease would be based on their ability to carry out the range of activities assessed by the work capability assessment.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on benefit appeals in each year since 2010 by type of benefit payment.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on mandatory reconsiderations in each year since 2010, by type of benefit payment.

Sarah Newton: This information is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.The Department has previously published average costs of PIP and ESA mandatory reconsiderations and appeals, which covers direct staff costs only (see Table 24 of Work and Pensions Select Committee PIP and ESA assessments inquiry: supporting statistics). The total that DWP has spent on mandatory reconsiderations and appeals includes high level support costs such as management and corporate overheads. These costs cannot be split out from overall Departmental spending on benefit payments, and therefore total Departmental spend on mandatory reconsideration and appeal is not available.

Home Office

Hate Crime

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of hate crimes that have been reported to police in each of the last five years.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office collects information on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police, by monitored strand. The latest statistics are published in the ‘Hate crime, England and Wales, 2016 to 2017’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2016-to-2017This Government is committed to tackling hate crime. The UK has a strong legislative framework to tackle hate crime. We are working across Government with police, (including National Community Tensions Team), the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners to send out a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated and we will vigorously pursue and prosecute those who commit these crimes.

Domestic Violence

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to run a consultation on the proposed Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill.

Victoria Atkins: We are committed to seeking the views of experts and practitioners on proposals for the draft domestic abuse Bill and supporting non-legislative measures. We are working with partners across Government on our domestic abuse consultation to ensure it is as robust and thorough as possible, before launching it shortly. The consultation will be accompanied by a number of events taking place around England and Wales.

Money Laundering

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Question 118851, on Money Laundering, what steps he is taking within the reform to the SARs regime to drive up engagement with (a) Trust or Company Service Providers and (b) other reporting sectors on improvements to SAR reporting.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office and the National Crime Agency have initiated a SARs Reform Programme to deliver end-to-end improvements to the SARs regime. This will include improving the quality of SARs reporting, addressing concerns of defensive-reporting and under-reporting, enhancing the capabilities of the UK Financial Intelligence Unit, and increasing the use, exploitation and analysis of SARs by law enforcement bodies. The regulated sector have been extensively consulted and engaged in the design of the Reform Programme.In addition, the Home Office’s ‘Flag It Up’ campaign works with the National Crime Agency and regulatory bodies in relevant professional sectors to drive engagement with best practice guidance on SARs reporting, and prevent potential involvement with money laundering activities. The NCA also engage on a regular basis with the regulated sector through the SARs Regime Committee.

Immigration

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many procedural errors have been made in applications for leave to remain in each of the last five years.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been affected by procedural errors in applications for leave to remain in each of the last five years.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many explanations and apologies have been issued to people affected by procedural errors in applications for leave to remain in each of the last five years.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how long her Department has taken to clarify with each person affected by procedural errors in application for leave to remain in each of the last five years.

Caroline  Nokes: The information requested is not recorded in a way that can be reported without incurring disproportionate cost.

Immigration

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of procedural errors occurring in applications for leave to remain.

Caroline  Nokes: UK Visas and Immigration continually reviews its operation to improve performance and accountability. Customer feedback, including complaints, are taken into account to ensure we offer value for money; which includes improving the services we offer, the quality of the decisions we make and the provision of an excellent customer service. When we are informed of errors we work promptly to rectify them.More widely, we have assurance regimes which aim to increase consistent quality and identify good and weak practice within the department. We utilise three regimes; operational oversight, independent business reviews and third party reviews, in conjunction with the wider Home Office, in order to develop and ensure best practice.Data on performance against service standard in relation to replies to customer complaints for UKVI, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force can be found at table MP 03 at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-november-2017

Immigrants: Health Services

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people applying for leave to remain have been asked to pay an additional fee for the Immigration Health Surcharge after paying the full amount for the application in each of the last five years.

Caroline  Nokes: As part of the application the process the customer is required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, in full, before they pay their application fee.Therefore no customer will be asked to pay an additional fee for the Immigration Health Surcharge after they have paid for their application fee.Any additional payments would only be requested because there was a shortfall within the Immigration Health Surcharge paid. We do not hold data on these top up requests.

Home Office: Ministerial Powers

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many ministerial directions were issued to her Department in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Victoria Atkins: There have been no ministerial directions issued to the department in 2015, 2016 or 2017.

Deportation

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people assigned for deportation have (a) sustained injuries or (b) died (i) immediately before boarding or (ii) onboard deportation flights leaving the UK in each of the last five years.

Caroline  Nokes: There have been no deaths over the last five years of people being removed under escort on a flight from the UK.Published Immigration Enforcement transparency data shows that there were 7,678 attempted escorted removals in 2015, 8,175 in 2016 and 3,873 in 2017 up to 30 June (quarter 2). It can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#immigration-enforcement.Information on the timing of any injury (whether immediately before boarding or on-board) and the type of escorted removal (whether scheduled or Home Office charter flight) is not readily available from central records and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost through a manual search of individual case files.

Hezbollah

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the nature of the links between the political and military wings of Hezbollah; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben  Wallace: The military and political activities of Hizballah are distinct, though links exist between the senior leaders of the political and military wings. The UK proscribed Hizballah's External Security Organisation in March 2001 and in 2008 the proscription was extended to Hizballah's military apparatus.

Hezbollah

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on proscribing Hezbollah; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben  Wallace: Hizballah's External Security Organisation was proscribed in March 2001 and in 2008 the proscription was extended to Hizballah's military apparatus including the Jihad Council. I have received representations from Parliamentarians, civil society organisations and members of the public amongst others on whether to extend the proscription of Hizballah to cover the whole organisation.

HM Treasury

Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands

Neil O'Brien: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the monies accrued to the public purse of (a) freezing the personal allowance at £12,000 and (b) freezing the higher-rate threshold at £50,000 in each of the years after 2020-21.

Mel Stride: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 12 January 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The estimated Exchequer impact of freezing the personal allowance at £12,000 and freezing the higher-rate threshold at £50,000 in 2021-22 and 2022-23 is: £m bn2021-222022-23Exchequer Impact of a Freeze of the PA at £12,000 and the HRT at £50,0001,8003,900Figures have been rounded to the nearest £100 million. The The impact is shown on a National Accounts basis consistent with the presentation in table 2.1 of Budget documents The government remains committed to increasing the PA to £12,500 by 2020-21. The estimated Exchequer impact of freezing the personal allowance at £12,500 and freezing the higher-rate threshold at £50,000 in 2021-22 and 2022-23 is: £mbn2021-222022-23Exchequer Impact of a Freeze of the PA at £12,500 and the HRT at £50,0001,8004,000Figures have been rounded to the nearest £100 million. Therefore the modelling simulation above has been repeated with the PA set to £12,500 in 2020-21, frozen thereafter (the HRT was as in the £12,000 scenario above). Both of these estimates are sensitive to any changes in the projected economic determinants used, and modelling assumptions, and are therefore subject to revision. [To answer this question a number of assumptions have been made as set out below. These estimates are consistent with the methodology used to estimate the impact of policy changes to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs). The question implies that the Personal Allowance (PA) and Higher Rate Threshold (HRT) would be at the stated levels in 2020-21 in order that they be frozen at those levels (rather than indexed with Consumer Price Index (CPI) indexation as is the convention) for the years after that. The Exchequer impact of meeting the thresholds in 2020-21 has is not included in these figures. The estimated impact from freezing the PA and HRT has been modelled using the 2014-15 Survey of Personal Incomes projected using assumptions from the Office of Budget Responsibility’s November 2017 economic and fiscal outlook. The costs set out below include assumptions on the likely behavioral responses of affected taxpayers, which is in line with previous similar costings agreed with the OBR. The costing include the impact on NICs, as the Upper Earnings Limit and Upper Profits Limit are aligned to the Higher Rate Threshold which has been frozen at £50,000 for this policy. The simulation assumes the HRT freeze does not apply in Scotland where this threshold is devolved. Therefore the Scottish Basic Rate Limit (BRL) is amended to maintain the Scottish HRT at the current projected levels after any changes to the PA. The simulation includes an estimate for the change in the Scottish block grant adjustment under this policy change scenario.

Mel Stride: The estimated Exchequer impact of freezing the personal allowance at £12,000 and freezing the higher-rate threshold at £50,000 in 2021-22 and 2022-23 is: £m bn2021-222022-23Exchequer Impact of a Freeze of the PA at £12,000 and the HRT at £50,0001,8003,900Figures have been rounded to the nearest £100 million. The The impact is shown on a National Accounts basis consistent with the presentation in table 2.1 of Budget documents The government remains committed to increasing the PA to £12,500 by 2020-21. The estimated Exchequer impact of freezing the personal allowance at £12,500 and freezing the higher-rate threshold at £50,000 in 2021-22 and 2022-23 is: £mbn2021-222022-23Exchequer Impact of a Freeze of the PA at £12,500 and the HRT at £50,0001,8004,000Figures have been rounded to the nearest £100 million. Therefore the modelling simulation above has been repeated with the PA set to £12,500 in 2020-21, frozen thereafter (the HRT was as in the £12,000 scenario above). Both of these estimates are sensitive to any changes in the projected economic determinants used, and modelling assumptions, and are therefore subject to revision. [To answer this question a number of assumptions have been made as set out below. These estimates are consistent with the methodology used to estimate the impact of policy changes to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs). The question implies that the Personal Allowance (PA) and Higher Rate Threshold (HRT) would be at the stated levels in 2020-21 in order that they be frozen at those levels (rather than indexed with Consumer Price Index (CPI) indexation as is the convention) for the years after that. The Exchequer impact of meeting the thresholds in 2020-21 has is not included in these figures. The estimated impact from freezing the PA and HRT has been modelled using the 2014-15 Survey of Personal Incomes projected using assumptions from the Office of Budget Responsibility’s November 2017 economic and fiscal outlook. The costs set out below include assumptions on the likely behavioral responses of affected taxpayers, which is in line with previous similar costings agreed with the OBR. The costing include the impact on NICs, as the Upper Earnings Limit and Upper Profits Limit are aligned to the Higher Rate Threshold which has been frozen at £50,000 for this policy. The simulation assumes the HRT freeze does not apply in Scotland where this threshold is devolved. Therefore the Scottish Basic Rate Limit (BRL) is amended to maintain the Scottish HRT at the current projected levels after any changes to the PA. The simulation includes an estimate for the change in the Scottish block grant adjustment under this policy change scenario.

Temporary Employment: Private Sector

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made by his Department on its proposed consultation on off-payroll working rules in the private sector; and if he will make a statement.

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that his Department's proposed consultation on off-payroll working rules in the private sector includes proactive consultation with UK businesses, people and organisations directly affected by those rules.

Mel Stride: As announced at Autumn Budget 2017, the government will carefully consult on how to tackle non-compliance with the off-payroll working rules in the private sector, to ensure individuals who work like employees are taxed like employees, even if they work through their own company. The timing of the consultation will be announced in due course. This consultation will draw on the experience of recent reform in the public sector, including through external research already commissioned by the government and due to be published in 2018, and will seek the views of people and organisations who would implement any change.

Temporary Employment: Private Sector

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to review entitlement to employee benefits as part of his Department's proposed consultation on off-payroll working rules in the private sector.

Mel Stride: Falling within the off-payroll tax rules does not change an individual’s status for employment rights, as there is no direct link between employment taxes and these rights. In response to the Matthew Taylor review of Employment Practices in the Modern Economy, the Government will consult on the rules that determine an individual’s employment status for both employment rights and tax.

Temporary Employment: Private Sector

Martyn Day: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer,  if he will prioritise a review of the accuracy of the IR35 Digital Tool known as CEST as part of his Department's proposed consultation on off-payroll working rules in the private sector.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)’s Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) service has been tested for accuracy against known case law and settled cases. It provides an answer for 85 percent of uses, and HMRC will stand by the result given unless a compliance check finds the information provided isn’t accurate. Feedback from customers shows the CEST service is helping to ensure that, for most situations, decisions on whether a worker is in scope of the intermediaries legislation (known as IR35) are simple and quick. HMRC will continue to work with customers to enhance the service, and holds tax guidance on employment status under review.

Economic Growth: Productivity

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of low productivity growth since 2010.

Robert Jenrick: Productivity growth has slowed globally since the financial crisis. The Government is closely monitoring the effects of this on the UK economy to guide policy. Since 2010 we have invested over half a trillion pounds in capital investment, cut taxes to support business investment and reformed technical education. The Autumn Budget sets out the next steps the government is taking to improve productivity. We are extending the National Productivity Investment Fund, increasing support for R&D to its highest level in 30 years by 2021/22, transforming lifelong learning and responding to the Patient Capital Review that we commissioned.

Treasury: Electric Vehicles

Mary Creagh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many vehicles in his Department's fleet are (a) electric vehicles and (b) ultra-low emission vehicles.

Robert Jenrick: The Chancellor’s Department does not operate a fleet of cars. The Treasury uses two cars provided by the Government Car Service, which will be included in the return from the Department for Transport.

Ports

Luke Pollard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether British ports will be designated as free ports after the UK leaves the EU.

Mel Stride: Section 100A of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (CEMA) provides the legal basis for the designation of free zones by HM Treasury and will continue to do so following UK withdrawal from the EU. Applying for designation as a free zone will be a commercial decision to be taken by private port operators.

European Investment Bank

Mary Creagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how does his Department plan to replace European Investment Bank (EIB) investment in the UK after the UK has left the EU; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect of EIB funding on the UK's green industry.

Robert Jenrick: The European Investment Bank, and its offshoot, the European Investment Fund, provide financing for infrastructure investment and growth businesses in a range of sectors including renewable energy. As set out in the joint report on progress during phase 1 of the negotiations, the government considers that there could be mutual benefit from a continuing arrangement between the UK and the EIB, and wishes to explore these possible arrangements in the second phase of negotiations. The government is also continuing to take steps to ensure that finance continues to be available for good infrastructure projects and growth businesses: the UK Guarantees Scheme, which gives government support for private infrastructure finance, has been broadened to offer construction guarantees, and at Budget the Chancellor launched the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund to support the transition to zero emission vehicles.

Health Insurance

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will take steps to encourage the uptake of private health insurance to relieve pressures on the NHS.

Elizabeth Truss: In the UK, the NHS ensures that any individual or family has access to the high-quality health care they need irrespective of their ability to pay. At Spending Review 2015 we funded the NHS’s ‘Five Year Forward View’ plan, with £10 billion a year of additional funding by 2020/21. However, we recognise that the NHS remains under pressure – with high demand on its services caused by the UK’s ageing population and rapidly advancing technology. The government acted in response to these challenges at Budget 2017 and provided £6.3 billion in new funding for the NHS. The government is clear that it considers it important that everyone has access to suitable insurance at the right price. However, we do not intervene in non-compulsory insurance matters. It is up to individuals to decide whether to take out private health insurance.

PAYE: Income Tax

Justin Tomlinson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to display the annual cash value of changes in income tax on PAYE pay slips.

Mel Stride: Payslips relate to income from one employment only and do not show income from other jobs or sources of taxable income. Employers do not have access to this information and would not be able to show the annual change in an individual’s tax liability. However, this information is provided in annual tax summaries which have been issued since 2014. Tax summaries show individuals how their income tax and National Insurance contributions have been calculated for all their employments and other forms of taxable income, and how this contributes to public expenditure. Individuals can use the information on their tax summaries to compare how changes to income tax, such as increases to the personal allowance, affect their tax bill. Since 2010, the personal allowance has increased by 80 per cent - from £6,475 in 2010-11 to £11,850 in 2018-19.

Income Tax: Tax Allowances

Justin Tomlinson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in (a) North Swindon constituency, (b) Swindon, (c) England and (d) the UK were (i) removed from paying income tax and (ii) paid reduced income tax as a result of increases to the personal allowance in each year since 2010.

Mel Stride: Since the start of the 2015 Parliament, further increases to the personal allowance (up to £11,850 in 2018-19) are expected to cut income tax for 31 million individuals in the UK in 2018‑19, including 26.1 million individuals in England, of which 2.8 million individuals are in the South West, which includes Swindon and the Parliamentary Constituency of North Swindon. This includes taking 1.2 million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether in the UK, 986,000 in England, and 109,000 in the South West. These estimates are based on the 2014-15 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s November 2017 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Over the 2010-2015 Parliament, policy measures to increase to the personal allowance in each year since 2010 are estimated to have reduced the income tax liability of 28 million individuals in the UK in 2015-16, including 23.4 million individuals in England, of which 2.4 million individuals are in the South West, which includes Swindon and the Parliamentary Constituency of North Swindon. This includes taking 4 million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether in the UK, 3.3 million in England, and 344,000 in the South West. These estimates are based on the 2013-14 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2016 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. HM Treasury does not publish this information at constituency level or town/city level.

Children: Day Care

Alex Sobel: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of parents who have been affected by the error on the Childcare Service website which incorrectly tells them that they are not eligible for 30 hours of free childcare although they meet the relevant criteria.

Elizabeth Truss: Due to a temporary technical issue some parents reconfirming their eligibility for 30 hours free childcare saw a screen that suggested they would need to stop their childcare vouchers. The screen has now been amended. The childcare service helpline were able to guide any customers experiencing this issue to reconfirm without stopping their childcare vouchers. Childcare voucher schemes will be open to new entrants until April 2018 and so parents can join or re-join the scheme until that point.

Redundancy Pay: Repayments

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what mechanisms exist to recover unauthorised redundancy payments made by a company funded by the Government through grant in aid.

Elizabeth Truss: Where payments are contractually committed, the terms of any possible recovery depend on the contract under which they are agreed. Any unauthorised expenditure by a departmental arm’s-length body must be noted in the relevant department’s annual report and accounts. Any repayment of grant-in-aid by the arm’s-length body would be a matter to be resolved between the funding department and the arm’s-length body in question.

Money Laundering: EU Law

Priti Patel: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of (a) progress on implementing the Fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive, (b) the performance of HM Revenue and Customs as administrators of the central register and (c) the effectiveness of the IT system used by HM Revenue and Customs to facilitate financial agents in undertaking registrations on behalf of their clients.

Priti Patel: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what reports he has received on the time taken for financial agents to register Trusts in accordance with the Fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive; if he will instruct HM Revenue and Customs to extend the deadlines for completing submissions and registrations; and if he will make a statement.

Mel Stride: Responses to the consultation on transposing EU Fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive into UK law generally supported the Government’s proposed approach to the new registration system. Since its implementation, HMRC have supported users of the Trust Registration Service (TRS) through newsletters, webinars, guidance, a dedicated helpline and meetings with professional and tax representative bodies. HMRC have enabled registration where agents do not have all the data required by law but have made all reasonable efforts to find it, and have also extended the registration deadlines from 5 October 2017 and 31 January 2018 to 5 January 2018 and 5 March 2018, respectively. The TRS will allow HMRC to collect, hold, retrieve and share information with Law Enforcement Authorities to help identify and disrupt suspicious activity involving the misuse of trusts for money laundering or terrorist financing.

Children: Day Care

Diana Johnson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in Hull (a) receive childcare vouchers and (b) have registered for tax-free childcare.

Elizabeth Truss: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold this information. Childcare vouchers provided by employers are normally exempt from tax, therefore, employers are not required to report details to HMRC. Information on the number of people who have registered for Tax-Free Childcare by local authority is not available at the current time.

Welfare Tax Credits: Children

Jo Stevens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of families whose tax credits have been altered by the two-child limit on tax credits since its introduction on 6 April 2017.

Elizabeth Truss: No family has seen a cash reduction in their award as a consequence of the limit on support to two children in Child Tax Credit as the measure only applies to children born on or after the 6 April 2017. There are a number of exceptions to the limit and relevant statistics will be published in due course.

Red Diesel: Public Consultation

Richard Burden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the outcomes of his Department’s red diesel call for evidence, which ran from 20 March 2017 to 30 June 2017.

Robert Jenrick: The purpose of this call for evidence was to improve the government’s understanding of how red diesel is used. We are now considering what next steps to take.

Child Benefit: Uprating

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a triple lock protection for child benefit to adjust for rising living costs.

Elizabeth Truss: The Child Benefit rate is frozen for four tax years from 2016-17 to 2019-20 under the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. Between 1980 and 2014 spending on working-age welfare trebled in real terms. The government continues to protect the most vulnerable in society. The government will be spending £10bn more on welfare for people of working age and children by the end of this parliament than it does now.

North Sea Oil: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the tax cuts for North Sea Oil companies in Autumn Budget 2017 on the UK's carbon reduction commitments.

Robert Jenrick: At the Autumn Budget, the government announced it would introduce a transferable tax history for UK exploration and production companies. This is not a tax cut: it is designed to level the playing field between companies established in the sector and new entrants. It will do this by giving those new entrants certainty that tax relief will be available on their decommissioning costs. This measure is consistent with the UK’s existing carbon reduction commitments. The government is committed to tackling climate change and is a world leader in reducing emissions, having done so faster than any other G7 nation. The latest Energy and Emissions Projections Report shows that the UK remains on track to meet its carbon reduction targets. The Report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/671187/Updated_energy_and_emissions_projections_2017.pdf

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Electric Vehicles

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many vehicles in his Department's fleet are (a) electric vehicles and (b) ultra-low emission vehicles.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department for Exiting the European Union does not own its own fleet of vehicles, but uses a fleet provided by the Government Car Service.

Brexit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, for what reasons the Government did not conduct regional alongside sectoral analyses of the impact of the UK of leaving EU.

Mr Robin Walker: We are undertaking a comprehensive programme of analytical work. As part of this, we have looked at 58 sectors of the economy. We will continue to engage with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy, and all regions and nations of the UK, in order to inform our negotiations with the EU.

National Assembly for Wales

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 17 January 2018, Official Report, column 884, what extra powers for devolution to the National Assembly for Wales under the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill are being referred to in that response.

Mr Steve Baker: The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is designed to ensure that the UK exits the EU with certainty, continuity and control. This is an essential Bill in the national interest. No decision-making power that is currently exercised by the devolved administrations will be taken away by this Bill. In addition, it is the Government’s expectation and intention that the return of competences from the European Union will result in a significant addition to the powers exercised in future by the devolved administrations. We are making good progress with the devolved administrations on where common approaches will and will not be needed and are continuing our intensive discussions on an amendment to clause 11 of the Bill.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Electric Vehicles

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many vehicles in his Department's fleet are (a) electric vehicles and (b) ultra-low emission vehicles.

Tracey Crouch: The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not own any vehicles.

Carillion

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with local authorities whose libraries were outsourced to Carillion plc on ensuring that they can continue to meet their statutory obligations.

Michael Ellis: Carillion Integrated Services Ltd is responsible for the management of library service provision for three local authorities in England - Croydon, Harrow and Ealing. Officials have contacted these local authorities and I understand each has activated plans to ensure that library services continue to operate as normal.